Richard Nuccio Case Study

Dizon, Nadine C.
MA-COM I
The three “points” I will be discussing in this paper are the case studies from each of the sections of the course.
The case study on Defamation was about Chicago Police Officer Richard Nuccio who shot a civilian and Elmer Gertz who was the lawyer hired by the victim’s family. The magazine, American Opinion then published an article turned the entire situation around and made the case about being a “war against the police” and even using Gertz’ supposed communist beliefs as one of the key factors in this case. The author even claimed to have “had conducted extensive research into the Richard Nuccio case.”
This issue alone – minus the analysis and the Court’s decision – is so ridiculous that you would think that the

Meanwhile, private figures “are not only more vulnerable to injury than public officials and public figures; they are also more deserving of recovery.”
At first I thought that public figures were more vulnerable to scrutiny because of their positions, but after reading the text above, I stood corrected. Public figures, when attacked with false claims, can always go ahead and deny, and sway other people’s beliefs quite quickly; while private figures have it harder. This is because the fewer people who know them, the fewer people who will believe in them.
It was then said in the ruling that “States can set their own standards for private plaintiffs suing for defamation, provided they do not impose liability without fault,” and that the private figure must prove that the publisher was negligent, in order to “succeed on a defamation claim”. I found the ruling agreeable and reasonable.
In the case study about Invasion of Privacy, Ruth Shulman and her son were involved in a car accident, and when they were rescued, Cameraman Joel Cooke recorded everything, “including conversations between Flight Nurse Laura Carnahan and Ruth, without the consent of the